Starting an online job search can be both exciting and frustrating. You might be excited at the thought of being your own boss-to a certain extent, anyhow-and setting your own hours and working in the comfort of your own living room and not having to listen to obnoxious co-workers or having to figure out what to bring to the office holiday party. However, that enthusiasm can quickly fade as you realize how daunting an online job search can be: how many options there are and how much competition there is.
The first thing you might want to do is treat your online job search as you would any traditional job search. Don't rely solely on the Internet; go to job fairs, and use your networking resources. After all, you could always get a traditional job in an office somewhere, work that job for a while, and then try to convince your boss to let you work from home. Also, ask your friends, your college career counselor, your old supervisors at your summer internships, and anyone else you can think of if they know of any online positions opening up where they work.
When you're searching online for online jobs, read as many postings as you can and send your resume out to as many places as you can. Don't waste energy sending your resume out for a position for which you aren't qualified, though. It doesn't matter how convincing you think you are, it's almost impossible to talk your way into such a position. Otherwise, the key here is volume. In fact, some job experts will tell you that it can take one-hundred attempts to yield five or so job interviews, and of course not every job you interview for you'll get, either. In other words, keep sending out those resumes and cover letters every single day until you get employment, weekends included.
Keep your resume up to date, too. And as far as cover letters go, send cover letters tailored to each company. That is, if you're sending a cover letter to the ABC Company, write "I would be an asset to the ABC Company because...." and then include a specific reason why you'd be good for that company. In order to do so, of course, you'll need to know something about the ABC Company, so do your research! (And always be certain you don't send the ABC Company a cover letter that says "I want to work at the XYZ Company because...." This is an easy mistake to make when you're sending multiple letters every day.)
Keep checking your cell phone and, especially, your email for messages from these companies; look at your email account at least a few times a day. You want to respond to any prospective employers as soon as they contact you. Chances are this person contacted several candidates at one time, and you don't want to miss out just because another person was quicker on the draw than you were.
Do you want to learn about high salary careers? If you're undecided about the right career for you, check-out the career profiles available at http://www.careertoolkits.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment